For my podcast review, I chose the episode “Tech Tool Roundup” by the podcast “The Librarian’s Guide to Teaching.” This 48 minute podcast outlined a variety of popular websites and apps that are available for librarians to use in the classroom. In addition to detailing their basic functions, the hosts also outlined the pros and cons of each tool and made suggestions for activities and assignments that can be accomplished with each.

Kahoot and LibWizard can be used to create fun interactive quizzes that the whole class can do simultaneously on one screen.

FlipGrid is similar to TikTok and Instagram, allowing students to create short videos with fun filters.

Hypothes.is is a web annotation tool that promotes analysis and discussion. It is a Chrome extension, so it can be used on any website. The big advantages are that it is a free service and Hypothes.is can connect to MLS and Blackboard.

JamBoard is an intuitive collaborative tablet where students can add notes, images, and links. Frames (slides) can be created, and articles can be annotated.

Bubblus is a concept mapping tool where students can visually represent their ideas and thought processes. Unfortunately, it’s not free.

Anchor is the podcasting tool that “The Librarian’s Guide to Teaching” uses for their podcast, so it comes highly recommended. Anchor provides lots of support and is very mobile friendly. It allows for phone calls to be used and recorded within the app, so students could easily interview someone for a project. The downside is that there is no editing feature, so the audio is either raw or must be moved to a different app in order to edit it.

Padlet is a student response and discussion tool.

Wikipedia was mentioned not only as a resource, but as a tool and activity with Edit-a-thons.

Mentimeter and Poll Everywhere are free response tools, much like Kahoot. The bonus with these, though, is that they can include online students, rather than solely in-person ones.

Zoom was mentioned solely for the “upcoming” use of polls. This podcast is from February 23, 2021, and the hosts said that Zoom was planning to implement polls some time in the upcoming year. My first encounter with Zoom was during the orientation session for this program, where polls were used, so it was interesting to see that Zoom implemented the feature so quickly.

NearPod allows users to create interactive presentations with polls and videos.

The podcast concluded with two recommended articles, “8 Strategies to Prevent Teaching Burnout” and “Teaching in the Age of Disinformation.” The first article had a few great takeaways about online teaching during a pandemic. Firstly, don’t teach online the same way you do in person. For example, in the traditional classroom a great way to get students to be more participatory and collaborative is to break them up into groups. However, the article encourages teachers to not do Zoom breakout groups, as that can lead to many issues, notably the inability to monitor behavior and participation. Secondly, poll often, as the software is handy and it’s a great way to quickly, quietly, and anonymously check the progress of students. Thirdly, provide a note framework that students can annotate as you teach, which allows them to focus more on the message than taking down every detail. And lastly, a great way to check for understanding and guide thinking during assigned lecture videos is to provide time stamped prompts. Have students stop the video at a certain minute and second mark and think about a topic or answer a question.

Overall, I enjoyed the podcast. The hosts were amiable and conversational, but clearly wanted to help their listeners by sharing technologies. I’m a first semester library science student, so I was unfamiliar with some of the terminology, such as LMS and LTI, but their overall message was not at all lost on me. I recommend this episode to anyone who is interested in bringing fresh, new technologies into their teaching. You can find the episode here: https://anchor.fm/librariansguidetoteaching/episodes/Tech-Tool-Round-Up-eq5qg6